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Justice raises barcode security concern; election officials explain ballot and tabulation safeguards
Summary
JP Hollis Mankin said he did not trust ballot barcodes and asked about returning to all paper ballots; County Clerk Valerie Donaldson and election staff described how barcodes are generated, how machines are offline, and said the process includes checks and tapes to verify results.
An extended discussion at the Desha County Quorum Court's Oct. 19, 2023 meeting focused on the county's use of voting machines and whether the court should return to all paper ballots.
JP5 Hollis Mankin asked County Clerk Valerie Donaldson how much it would cost to revert to paper ballots and said he "didn't trust the bar code on the ballot that voters place into the machines because he believed it could change votes." The court heard that switching to paper-only ballots would be complex because the county serves more than 7,000 registered voters across many overlapping precincts and ballot styles.
County Clerk Donaldson explained the county's current process: when a voter checks in, poll workers verify name, date of birth and identification; the electronic pollbook issues a blank ballot with a barcode linked to the voter's correct ballot style, and that ballot is placed in the voting machine. After selections are made, the same ballot is ejected and can be reviewed by the voter before being fed into a tabulator. Donaldson emphasized that the voting machines and the tabulation computer are not connected to the internet and that polling sites produce 'zero' tapes at opening and result tapes at closing; those tapes are compared to the tabulation report and uploaded to the Secretary of State's website for public viewing.
Election Coordinator Don Wesson said he once shared Mr. Mankin's concern but, after learning the details of the process during his tenure, no longer feels the machines change votes and described them as secure. Election Commissioner Carsell Mathis likewise said the process has always worked and called the challenge to it "ridiculous" in the transcript. JP8 Dollie Wilson and JP3 Patricia Watkins each said they have faith in the county and state election cybersecurity measures.
No motion to change voting systems was recorded in the minutes. The discussion concluded with the court proceeding to adjourn after a motion by JP5 Hollis Mankin and a second by JP2 G. Lynn Weatherford.
The transcript records procedural safeguards described by county election staff but does not include cost figures for converting to paper-only ballots or technical audits beyond the procedural description.
